Sermon on the Mount — W.F. Anderson

Right back there. So why don't you all just move down? No, of course, it's good to see you again and Be back where the weather's a little warmer. I don't think Jenny ever forgave me for moving to Minnesota.

Delighted to see you all again this morning. But I originally planned to do and she just just the stress of doing it put me in a Profibrillation again the kinds of things I'd like to do. And by here today, not only physically and maybe tonight we'll talk about having a study tomorrow night.

You're interested. You know, that's enough. We don't want to hear any more. And that's fine. No, you won't hurt my feelings. I'll go home crying, but that's all right. Don't worry about that, but we'll play it by ear today and see how things go.

What I'd like to do is begin with the Sermon on the Mount this morning in Matthew chapter 5. I'll switch if you've already done something with the Sermon on the Mount recently, but if you haven't I'd like to begin with Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 says now when he saw the crowds and it's close to chapter 4.

The last verse says large crowds from Galilee the capitalists at ten cities across the River Jordan Jerusalem Judea. And the region across the Jordan followed him. So at large crowds following him now when he saw the crowds.

He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them saying blessed are the poor in spirit, etc. And we'll hopefully get time to look at some of those Beatitudes this morning.

Matthew as you know is. And if I'm saying stuff you already know of me who has chosen to fill not biographies but teaching blocks. Those five teaching blocks is here in chapter 5. But we know that the Sermon on the Mount, I want to say that that teaching block in Matthew Occurs in chapter 1 just behind this line.

It occurs in chapter 10. It's the law of ministry. Jesus is sending his disciples out and he's telling them how they are to conduct their ministry. And when you come to chapter 13 you have another great block of teaching and I would call that the law of kingdom growth how the kingdom of God grows.

You have the sowing of the seed that's set from the growth of the seed the mustard seed all the rest of it. Yeast in the in the dough how the kingdom of God grows. The laws of growth in the kingdom of God.

In chapter 13 and when you come to chapter 18, you'd have what I would call the law of relationship in the kingdom of God he takes up primary subjects of servanthood. Where the disciples are grasping after power and prominence and Jesus teaches them the law of servanthood and the law of forgiveness because if if We are going to be what God wants us.

And I would say in that chapter then comes teaching the gospel of Matthew that has to do with the return of the king. And our Lord talks about his second advent those are the five great teaching blocks around which Matthew builds his gospel.

John as you remember built his gospel around the seven great miracles of Jesus. But what Matthew does. Matthew is the great teaching gospel and it presents Jesus the Messiah. Teaching in those five great blocks and Matthew as you know is the Jewish gospel.

You have more. Did fulfills what why it's the evangelism of the people of Israel in the first century those first of the building blocks the Sermon on the Mount and we have to ask what is the purpose of The Sermon on the Mount before we have a look at it.

And again, you're going to get all kinds of answers to that. There are people who feel it's profitable. So you can feel the Sermon on the Mount is not forming a new society of his followers. That is going to be different.

From any other group to be distinct in ways that really matter. They're going to live differently as a group disciple. It's as they create this Christian community this and together. They live the way Jesus says his disciples are supposed to live but they are going to be so.

Forming a new community. We are not we do that. But we form a community That together has a lifestyle. That is markedly different. From the lifestyle and I say community because we need in order to do that that Jesus is talking about.

We talked about his disciples. And so the church ought to be. I'm just talking about followers of Jesus now. Community whose lives reflect this new relationship to God in Jesus. I believe the Sermon on the Mount is quite obvious if in any way we live there.

We are going to be quite different in ways that really I hope we get a chance to look at some of that. But when he begins this Sermon on the Mount talks about Who we are and of people his disciples are before he talks about.

How now when you look at the Beatitudes and then his statements you are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world. Those are not expectations. He's not saying be that. He's saying you are that you are that you are what we are.

That Jesus begins with and then moves on to what we do. We as a group of disciples of Jesus Is not to blend in with our society. People see don't either hate us or love us. They'll want to are in Jesus and the negative response will not be because We are abrasive.

It will be because we are so different. So take any of these you can see how we would be. And I think that's the purpose of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is to create this kind of counterculture. Let me talk briefly about what I think are some of the key ideas in the Sermon on the Mount.

And then we'll move on to look at some of those specific passages first in chapter 5 verse 17. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them and Jesus does.

That what the prophets said about the Messiah Jesus. You can also see this word fulfilled in the way in which he uses he talks about the law. You have heard it was said now. He's not contradicting the law.

He's showing it's real meaning. He's getting past the surface meaning of the law and showing what God had in him and he fills out the law and you can see that all through here. In verse 27 you have heard it was said do not commit adultery.

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now he gets that from the command. He's not contradicting the command don't commit adultery.

Any more than in verse 21. You have heard that was said to the people long ago do not murder. And anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Where do you get that? Do not murder. You sit down and think I am not to commit murder. AIDS to murder. Anger. Desire for revenge. Hatred. If I am not to commit murder. Then I am not to hate. Give me anger.

That's already implied. Even if God doesn't spell it out. People who have a heart for God are going to be thinking that way. If we are only interested In an external keeping of a commandment We won't think that.

But if we really have a heart for God We are going to look at those commands. What are the implications of those commands? And that's what Jesus is doing. So in his teaching He fulfills the law. He fills it full Of its real meaning.

He goes beyond the surface Digs into it Said think about it. This is what God is saying to you. Not only don't commit. The second idea is that our righteousness Must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

In verse 20 of this chapter I tell you that unless your righteousness Surpasses that of the Pharisees And the teachers of the law You will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't think he's speaking of judicial righteousness.

He himself is our righteousness. I don't think that's what he's saying. So that's a greater righteousness. But he's talking about all through this sermon About how people live. But on the surface They were murdered.

And they didn't murder. They were satisfied with that. Jesus' teaching is correct. They didn't keep the law. On a visual level I don't mean to minimize The surface meaning of the commandments. That's what they were content with.

I haven't committed adultery, I haven't committed murder. That was their righteousness. Jesus said the true keeping of the law Is not to lust Not to hate. And your righteousness Must exceed that Of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

In that sense You penetrate beyond The surface obvious meaning of the commandments To the implications that lie under it. That hatred Are the things you begin to do. You see that? So in that way The righteous deeds of the disciples Exceed that Of the scribes and Pharisees The same way that their righteousness is I give up Meticulous observance Not only of the law Of traditions that have grown up around Because it goes beyond The surface meaning Of the scriptures And penetrates to the implications And begins to change What is internal Not just what.

So we are not satisfied with Not killing Or not committing adultery. We want the internal Attitudes change And in that sense Are righteous. Okay any questions? Please interrupt me If I'm not clear If my thinking is muddied And you can't figure out what I'm talking about.

Maybe I don't know either. But ask me and we'll see what we can do. So the righteousness Of the disciples of Jesus Must exceed the righteousness Of the scribes and Pharisees. And I'm Willful I'm going to do what I want to do.

So if you are a Bible That's one obvious way. Another obvious way is traditions Of centuries and that's always a danger Where our traditions Become more important And more distinctive For Christians Which isn't our goal Distinct from our society Isn't that.

And it is Possible to put our traditions Even in our Downsendings, it's possible to put our traditions Above Even if I was wrong Which I'm not, but if I was wrong I would shoot them And try to help them along What is really traditional Always will shoot them In the company of God's people To put our traditions In the name of Jesus That way As I just said The Pharisees Without digging deeper into its Implications Versus some of the ways in which We transgress the law.

And then some of you may be uncomfortable With the idea of An occupation And wrong We feel that we are sinners in need Of Jesus Christ Of being saved by grace. And he opposes Grace and law To those who are trying To be justified.

They're clear. The law is kind of neat. If the law only condemns us How can you be poisoned. But they did. The whole 119 psalms Is a peal of praise To the law. How wonderful it is How great it is. If you are not to be justified Before God Then the law not only has a function To lighten those boundaries.

And you delight in those boundaries. Because People with a heart for God in the Old Testament Not all that the rabbis Added to it That became a burden they couldn't bear. But the law itself The law condemns those Who try to be justified By keeping it.

It does not Condemn those who are justified. It guides them It nurtures and strengthens them. I'm not sure I'm clear. I think I know what I'm talking about. Are you clear. Whether you agree with me or not Is what I'm saying clear.

That's what I'm after. Alright now look at James chapter 1 22. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. By the way you notice That the New Testament is full of commands For God's people Those are commands.

Anyone who listens to the word But does not do what it says Is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror And after looking at himself Goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently Into the perfect law that gives freedom And continues to do this.

You see that man Who looks intently into the perfect law He's not content with just Alright there's what it says. He looks intently He's doing thinking About what it says And its implication for his own life.

The man who looks intently Into the perfect law that gives freedom And continues to do this Not forgetting what he has heard But doing it He will be blessed in what he does. Now back in that 25th verse How does James describe the law.

The answer is right there, it's perfect. How else does he describe it. What does he say about it About freedom. Freedom, how does it do that. If you want a relationship with God You are free to Violate the laws of God.

But by doing so You surrender the freedom Of a relationship. You are free to violate The laws of marriage. You are free to do that. You are not free. It's one or the other. Make a growing relationship with God.

They give me the freedom I may choose. I may want that freedom. If I do I am no longer free. And there is no Freer place to be Than in relationship. Unless you confuse God with an idol There is no freer place Than in relationship with God.

That's why Jesus said that His yoke Is easy And his burden Is light. And in that relationship He sets us free Free to be what we were created for. And it's only by following The instructions of God That we are free to be What we were created for.

So when Jesus gives these Commands in the Sermon on the Mount He's not imposing A burden on us. He is setting us free To be his disciples. Is that clear? So for someone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus Laws are not restricted In the galling sense.

They are freeing. They enable us To be what we really want to be. Which is a disciple of Jesus. Any questions about that? How I say that thing? Coming back to chapter 5 Where it begins with Beatitudes.

Jesus, as I've indicated First of all talks about Who his disciples are. And then he talks about What they do. Blessed are the poor In spirit of the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn. He's not exhorting us to do that.

This is what his Disciples are. And then when you jump down to the passage I want to take At the next hour In verse 13, you are the salt of the earth. In verse 14 You are the light of the world. He didn't tell his disciples to become that.

By virtue of being His disciples, that's what we are. So he begins With what we are. And then he moves on To how we are to live. Okay? So let's come to How he starts here With these Beatitudes. This is what Blessed are the poor in spirit.

And we need to talk first of all About the word blessed. Some translations give that as happy. I'm not happy. Because he's talking about Anything that depends on the circumstance In life. This is a divine communication.

The disciples are blessed. Nothing to do, that's not the idea of the word blessed. It's a difficult word To get hold of. One commentator wants to say Congratulations. The idea of the word in the Old Testament Is the same, blessed are.

He's not saying happy. But God has communicated A richness. And that richness Largely. As I understand these Beatitudes Is in the future. True, we are in the kingdom now. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

They will be, note the future. They will be comforted. They will inherit the earth. His disciples have not inherited the earth. They will be filled. And in these statements Jesus is saying A day will come When to the disciples Of Jesus, all of this Is going to be fulfilled.

And when you think of that What will it be like with those eternal Riches. No wonder Jesus says of his disciples You have been enriched Blessed, if you read We're blessed, nobody In our society is going to say Those people are blessed.

That sounds unbelievable. But there it is, it's believable. Been waiting 2 ,000 years for it to happen. But all that Jesus has promised In these blessings. What are the characteristics of people who are blessed.

Let's begin with those Blessed are the poor In spirit. Now Luke in his account simply says Blessed are the poor. But he can't mean Blessed are the materially poor. Because everything here has to do With the spiritual life.

Now the spiritually poor And the materially poor Were often the same in the Old Testament. One word for poor. The other word for poor is destitute. He doesn't have enough To get by on. He can't make it.

And that's the word Jesus uses here. Blessed are those Who are destitute In the Old Testament The materially poor were usually poor. They were not poor Because they were lackadaisical. There's a great deal to say about people Who are too lazy to work.

And none of it is good. So getting poor because you're lazy Is not to be blessed in the Old Testament. Or in the New Testament. Those who won't work in the New Testament Shouldn't eat. And Christians shouldn't feed people Who refuse to work.

The poor in the Old Testament Became poor Because of corruption in the courts. Usually that's how they became poor Their neighbor. After all, remember, every family. Even if it was sold. The neighbor coveted the land And bribed the judge.

And the judge rendered A verdict against you That involved surrendering the land To this neighbor. And when they had no means Of survival And they had no one. But here it's those who are Destitute In spirit.

The inner Nothing in my hand. That means God.